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Wasteful plan

Wasteful plan with its new draft policy to promote agro-based projects in the wasteland ready, Rajasthan joins the group of states that have recently formulated similar policies. The draft policy offers wastelands to private companies at throwaway prices for plantation, as is being done in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. But unlike other states, the move has sparked strong protests in rural areas of Rajasthan. People have questioned the availability of land and its transfer to private companies.

According to Sohan Lal, secretary, revenue department, the idea is to put large tracts of government wastelands to productive use by planting jatropha. The Centre has identified ratanjyot (Jatropha curcas) as a promising oilseed bearing plant for biodiesel. The policy specifies that up to 500 hectares (ha) will be allotted for non-biofuel crops and up to 20,000 ha for biofuel crops. Land identified by district collectors will be leased initially for a period of 30 years to companies registered under the Indian Companies Act.

All for land "These lands may be waste as they do not provide revenue to the government, but are used by communities as a source of fuel and fodder. They are also catchment areas for waterbodies,' says M S Rathore of the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur. Government records show as much as six million ha lie unused. But as Neelima Khaitan of Seva Mandir, an Udaipur-based non-governmental organisation (ngo) says, "There are no continuous patches of 500 ha available. In Udaipur district, most revenue lands are heavily encroached upon, followed by pasture and forest land.' She points to fierce conflicts over land, especially revenue land, forcing numerous ngos working on afforestation to instead focus on private lands or degraded forests. To complicate matters, during election time, the government regularises a number of encroachments on revenue wastelands.

Wastelands come under revenue, forest, panchayat or private ownership. Government sources point to revenue land as a possible target for plantations, though the policy does not specify this. When contacted, Ram Narayan Dudi, revenue minister, declined to comment. Other officials also avoided commenting on the policy. Sohan Lal said the policy was yet to be presented before the cabinet. Sources say the presentation of the draft has been delayed owing to its wide criticism.

Resistance faced Competing claims over land, especially cultivable wasteland, explains the massive rejection of plans to hand them over to yet another

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